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No Power Trip from Walmart’s Judith McKennaLock Icon

1 min read

Judith McKenna has regularly made the Forbes list of the most powerful women in business as she climbed the career ladder at Walmart Inc. of Bentonville. Her children may not have been as impressed.

McKenna, the CEO of Walmart International, was the keynote speaker at the Northwest Arkansas Business Women’s Conference on Sept. 14 in Bentonville. She recalled how she told her son, Charlie, who was 14 at the time, about making the list.

“I said, ‘Charlie, I got big news today. I made the list of the most powerful women in the world,’” McKenna said. “He looked at me and said, ‘Do they know you?’”

Joking aside, McKenna spoke of the challenges many parents have in balancing their careers with their families. She said her simplest advice is to do “whatever works for you.”

“I wish I had the textbook answer to that,” McKenna said about maintaining a work-life balance. “I’d be lying through my teeth if I told you I got it right.”

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